PreFab Event Taps Testbench 1.1

PreFab Software releases a new version of Event Taps Testbench, a free utility for software developers

North Andover, MA -- July 1, 2008 -- PreFab Software, Inc. and Bill Cheeseman today announced the release of version 1.1 of their free developer utility, PreFab Event Taps Testbench. Developers can use it to explore what their applications can do with Quartz event taps on Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard). It is also a useful tool to test drivers for hardware input devices such as trackballs and tablets, to test virtual software input devices including assistive applications for persons with disabilities, and to test remote control software.

Event Taps Testbench now comes with the PFEventTaps framework, a shared framework that developers can license for distribution with their own products that use Quartz event taps.

Event Taps Testbench 1.1 contains many new features and improvements, including full support for tablet proximity and pointer events.

Event Taps Testbench 1.1 requires Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard or newer, and it supports all of the new event taps enhancements introduced by Apple in Leopard.

• Now includes complete support for tablet proximity and pointer events, including examples of tablet event modification on the fly.

• Includes a new Current Event window where you can examine the most recent event in real time in an easy-to-read layout showing all available event information at a glance. The old Events window is still available as the Event History window, showing a configurable number of recent events in text format.

• Allows users to make Event Taps Testbench a trusted accessibility process without turning on global access for assistive devices.

• Enables users to turn on global access for assistive devices, if desired, without opening System Preferences.

• Allows users to tap events targeted at a named application, such as the Dock or SystemUIServer (For Menu Extras).

• Includes additional event modification examples as well as updated examples that work correctly on Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard).

• Includes user interface layout changes making it easier to use and understand.

• Includes many bug fixes making it more reliable.

• Includes an updated Help Book in the Help menu.

• The PFEventTaps framework is now installed separately as a shared framework in /Library/Frameworks, where it can be used by any developer. The framework wraps Apple's Quartz event taps C API, including many transparent bug workarounds. It fully supports Cocoa delegate methods, callbacks and notifications to make monitoring incoming events simple.

The PFEventTaps framework may be licensed without charge for distribution with a free software product. A modest license fee is required to distribute the framework with a product for which payment is requested or required, such as donationware, shareware and commercial software. Source code is available for a separate fee. Different terms apply to large or established commercial software developers.

PreFab Software, Inc. has unmatched experience controlling the GUI via scripts, releasing PreFab Player in 1994 with continued sales and support today for Mac OS 9 and earlier. In 2003, PreFab entered the world of Mac OS X with PreFab UI Browser, a popular utility to support Apple's GUI Scripting technology. PreFab UI Actions, implementing "universal attachability" for AppleScript, followed in 2004. Download fully-functional 30-day trial versions at http://www.prefabsoftware.com/. UI Browser and UI Actions are based on Bill Cheeseman's Cocoa framework for working with Apple's Accessibility API.

This press release was originally issued by PreFab Software, Inc. For current information, visit PFiddlesoft.